Getting double duty

Behind the discus ring, a black construction fence listed six numbers and they had nothing to do with how far Marty Taylor’s disc traveled.

He didn’t come close to any of those numbers on the fence on Thursday.

The lowest number on the fence was 231. Taylor has never thrown it past 180 feet outdoors, and this day was no different.

The dual meet in which he competed in for Newport Harbor High, and it didn’t matter that it was the Battle of the Bay in track and field, was nothing special for him.

“We can’t shoot for dual meets, because if you’re shooting for every single meet you go to, then you’re not going to be where you want to be at the end of the year,” said Tony Ciarelli, Taylor’s throws coach at Newport Harbor. “You have to sacrifice some things to get those strength levels going. This is the last heavy strength phase we’re going to do for the season.”

The serious lifting has left Taylor sore and it affected his throwing form at the meet at Corona del Mar. In this type of meet, all that Ciarelli cared about was Taylor’s form.

Those who know Taylor knew he was going to win the discus throw after taking the shotput. He didn’t set personal bests in both events as he did five days before the Battle of the Bay.

Ciarelli didn’t want him to anyway. If Ciarelli had his way at this meet, officials wouldn’t measure the distance for each of Taylor’s heaves, but give him a mark on how well his technique looked.

“Put a net up,” Ciarelli said. “I don’t care how far it goes, just make sure you do everything right [technically], so that when we are ready to throw far, everything clicks like it’s supposed to.”

Taylor is one of those throwers, Ciarelli said, who needs someone to push him. The senior faced competition prior to the Battle of the Bay and he stood out.

At the Irvine Invitational, Taylor took home the shotput (60 feet 1 inch) and discus (179-10) titles with personal bests in each event. In the shotput, San Clemente’s Kelsey Benoit challenged Taylor, and Taylor wound up with not only the state’s top mark this year, but the No. 1 in the nation.

Before Taylor recorded his first 60-foot throw of his career, Benoit was ahead of him. On his fourth throw, Taylor said he surpassed Benoit.

There was some added motivation for Taylor, who’s 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds.

Taylor’s older brother, Bo, showed up to the invitational. Bo is one of the top throwers to come out of Newport Harbor, as he finished second in the shotput and discus at the CIF State championships in 2006, and he holds the state’s top discus mark (213-7).

Taylor said Bo also happens to train Benoit at Arete Strength, where Bo works.

“I think that’s what got Marty to 60 feet last week,” said Ciarelli, who coached Bo at Newport Harbor before Bo went to UCLA. “I think if it would’ve been a regular meet, and [Benoit] hadn’t thrown so far, I don’t think Marty would’ve done what he did. That’s the one thing about Marty. He’s a really good competitor.”

Taylor said he doesn’t feel any pressure to live up to Bo, or Jake, another brother who qualified for the state meet in the shotput three years ago and placed eighth.

Taylor traveled to the state meet well before he did as a thrower in the shotput last year for the first time. As an 11-year-old, he remembered running around Cerritos College more than Bo’s actual throws in the state finals.

Taylor said he began to figure out it was a big deal Bo made it to state in the shotput and discus. Not many throwers have qualified in both events.

Seven years later, Taylor doesn’t only want to be the second Taylor in his family to get to state in the shotput and discus.

“I’m looking forward to being first in both the shotput and discus,” Taylor said of a feat that’s only been done nine times at the state meet, which began in 1913.

Ciarelli believes sweeping the throwing events at state is possible. He coached the last one to do it, Ethan Cochran, last year at Newport Harbor.

“There isn’t anybody that’s the guy,” said Ciarelli, referring to a favorite to win the shotput or discus at state this June. “Like last year, with Ethan in the discus, I don’t think anybody else thought they were going to be the state champion but Ethan. In the shotput, it was a tighter competition. Everybody was fighting and Ethan kind of came up with it. That’s what I kind of think about both events this year. It’s a little bit more wide open.”

david.carrillo@latimes.com

Twitter: @DCPenaloza

Marty Taylor

Born: Sept. 9, 1994

Hometown: Newport Beach

Height: 6-foot-1

Weight: 205 pounds

Sport: Track and field

Year: Senior

Coach: Tony Ciarelli

Favorite food: Barbecue chicken pizza

Favorite movie: “Good Will Hunting”

Favorite athletic moment: “This year at the [California High School State Indoor Invitational in Fresno] I threw [an indoor] PR [of 58-3 3/4 ], which got me into first place.”

Week in review: Taylor set personal bests in the outdoor shotput (60-1) and discus throw (179-10) and won both events at the Irvine Invitational. His outdoor shotput mark ranks not only No. 1 in the state, but also in the nation.